Source: Kaleida Picks Vet School for Gates Site

Interesting! I hope it works out. There were some legitimate-sounding concerns raised in comments on the previous post about whether there's any need for another vet school in the country and the feasibility of actually organizing a project of this magnitude. But I like it in theory, because it brings something totally new to WNY that will create new jobs, not just shift them around within the region.

Even though the vet school sounds like a massively complex thing to establish, the building project itself seems simpler and more feasible than the other proposal. In my mind, it's more likely to be successfully completed. Hopefully, the tenant project will also work out.

I am glad that this proposal is being selected. Uniland can do a similar type of project on a number of sites around the city where as with this project being re-use it is a better fit for the site. I do hope that the company can actually come through and that there is a need for the school. If it works out as planned this is a better addition to the area overall since it would bring new jobs and new people to the area that then would hopefully stay in the area. Without our colleges here I think that Buffalo would see even more of a population decline since a lot of people come here from outside the region and love it and end up staying. Between projects such as this one and everything at the medical campus, Buffalo is going to keep growing its educated, affluent population. As we start to increase our population and get more people in the area with money to spend on housing and entertainment, the demand for housing, retail and dining will increase as well. I hope that Uniland is not discouraged by not getting selected and still can use their design someplace else around the city to some capacity. At least if they use the design for the tower and can build that on an empty lot somewhere downtown as more lofts or condos then their efforts wouldn't go to waste.

Good news, IMO. Now that their concept plan is chosen, I'd love to see Chason refine their plans by including design elements from the Uniland plan.

In terms of concept, it seemed to me that the Uniland plan didn't bring anything new to the table -- it was mostly housing, and things that could be located many places in the city. Whereas the Chason proposal, by creating a new college, and filling a missing gap in Buffalo's educational offerings, adds huge new value to the city. It moves Buffalo toward being a place where you can get a degree in almost anything.

In addition to not bringing anything new to the table, the Uniland concept plan also removed old. Most of the buildings on the site are reusable to one degree or another, and some of them have great character and historic value. But -- in a preservation city -- Uniland wanted to clearcut the site.

In retrospect, I wish the work of the Urban Land Institute, which explored the feasibility of the redevelopment of the site, had been more clear about the value of specifically retaining all or most of the buildings on the site. Because otherwise, Uniland admirably followed many of the key ULI recommendations in developing its site plan, at least in terms of the layout. For example, extending Lancaster street through the site -- a key recommendation from ULI and request from the neighborhood. Also, the Uniland concept opened up a central gap in the building facing Chapin Parkway, to literally puncture that "Great Wall" sense.

So again, I'd love to see Chason now go through a process of refining their plans to incorporate some of those features that ULI recommended and the neighborhood expressed interest in having.

And the fact that there will be a college at Gates Circle -- meaning a population especially dependent on transit, biking, and walking to get around -- will hopefully get the City serious about some bikeability/walkability improvements on Delaware and Delavan. And transit improvements, too, to enhance useability of the 3 routes (Delaware, Colvin, and Delavan) that serve Gates Circle directly or within a block.

A huge congrats to Chason -- and especially the local partners on their team!

This could be really a really unique addition to the city and WNY. The previous articles on the vet school proposal mentioned they planned to close within 1 year of being selected. (fall 2013) Is that still true? Any other timelines provided? Do they have funding sources identified for the $65 million?

100 million vs. 65 million

I know this is sort of a "news before the real news" article, but it will be interesting to see why they selected a project that is almost half the investment of the other.

This really is exciting there is more activity in the past 6 months in terms of development (proposals, shovels in the ground, and completions) than the past 5 years.

Let's not forget another benefit of this type of retrofit: it will further train and give experience to contractors and construction workers in the art of reusing and re-adapting existing structures.

The existing building isn't exactly a historic or architectural gem, but the experience gained by converting it to a new use may become critical for the crews involved the next time they are called upon to save one of the city's other structures by finding a new use for it.

Not to mention, reusing this hospital saves the environment from dumping an entire building into a landfill and starting from scratch to produce the resources and materials needed for a brand new construction.

hot diggity!

Uniland has the opportunity to do this at other locations around the city .... Please don't shelf this concept, but actually just reconcept it for CHOB site- this is exactly what that neighborhood needs where children's is located ...... Keep uniland talking about this concept and direct their attention to the childrens location ...
On the other hand, is this Vet school an addition to or related to an accredited national Vet school? And is there a need ? If so, let's get this started ASAP

This concept is a fantastic win for the city. I absolutely love it from an economic development standpoint - this is going to be real growth.

That is AWESOME. Canisius College already has a nation-wide draw for their Animal Behavior and Pre-Vet programs. This can be another anchor for the region. Something creative and out of the same old mixed use hotel/apartment box.

Excellent news! Buffalo will actually be know for zoology! It's also a win win for the city, nothing torn down (not much), and something going up.

Hooray for a Vet school.

Like RaChaCha said, it would be ideal if Chason would incorporate some of Uniland's aesthetic treatments.

Hoping that Uniland will be in first position to build a slimmed-down residential version on Kaleida's Bryant St./Children's site.

The original article which outlines both of these projects gave a fairly clear timeline for the Chapin Place project, which was not selected. But it makes no mention of a timeline for the selected project. Is there one? Maybe I missed it.

i can understand why they would hesitate with the Uniland proposal... the tower Uniland proposed on the adjacent Park Lane site never happened and the Uniland hospital proposal was more of the same...what would make their proposal for the hospital any more likely to get built?

A dissenting voice.

A vet school in the middle of Buffalo won't gain much respect or stature, because the urban setting will make it difficult to accommodate larger animals -- horses and farm animals. Does the proposal address the acquisition of land in outlying areas for facilities and labs for larger animals?

Here's the facilities of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/about/facilities.cfm

Also, every vet school in the US is a constituent college of a larger university. There's no freestanding vet schools that aren't part of a larger college or university.

I just don't see this proposal gaining much traction.

When I first read about the vet school and some of the issues raised by commentators here, I was

To some of the questions & comments above:

From my understanding, there is a real, national need for additional schools of veterinary medicine. There are only some 28 colleges of veterinary medicine accredited by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Admission is highly competitive. Many prospective students travel to Canada, Mexico and overseas to train in this discipline. Locating the 29th school here keeps more American dollars at home.

As for acquiring land to house larger farm animals, this is obviously a necessity and not a hindrance to developing this school at this location. Students who are interested and/or required to study VM for larger/farm animals will simply bus to the outlying property (a benefit for another locality within the region).

To DeanerPPX’s comment: I totally agree. “The greenest material is the one that is not used.”

And to the preservationists: did you know that Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Larkin Office building lies in pieces under the outer harbor – it was demolished and used as infill – a tragedy

Awesome! I'm glad to see a re-use project that isnt just more housing. That being said, I really hope we get some more clear-cut details (this wasn't supposed to be announced until 130 today) because I can't see a school just appearing out of thin air. Doesn't it take many years to become accredited, secure faculty, design a curriculum, and recruit students? I just can't see that all going so easily unless it's part of an already established and respected school.

Hopefully their plans become clearer because there's definitely alot of unanswered questions. As for the design aspect, we were promised that there would be ongoing community input opportunities so I hope they stay true to their word. Anyway, I truly hope this project succeeds!

Could not think of a worse reuse plan for this antiquated jumble of poor renovations. If you have ever been in this mess you know that usable space is at a premium because of structure and MEP systems. Kaleida would be ill advised to accept this proposal, and I hope this "source" prooves incorrect.

Its a pipe dream all pie in sky. No vet school is interested. I'm sure the residence on Linwood ave would love this come true.

As one of the founders of UB and Buffalo General Hospital (and some say, a fond lover of animals), It would be a nice touch if the new veterinary school carried on the name of Millard Fillmore.

Is it silly for me to assume that this proposal was selected because a vet school has already signed on to be part of it?

Only slightly more that 40% of all applicants to US vet schools are accepted. Cornell accepts less than 11% of its applicants for veterinary medicine. States w/o vet schools actually purchase seats for their residents in other state vet schools.

RE: Hamp...I'd say you're right on the money!

I think they need to reskin the building, in particular so the various additions are hidden.

There are some historic elements on the Linwood side which I hope they preserve

But this is a very prominent building for a very prominent location: Gates Circle.

This building shouldnt be flat but have some feature that embraces the circular roundabout, the fountain, etc. Maybe I stand alone on it because no one else mentioned it.

A veterinarian school is good, fits with the other schools in the area but what if they want a vet hospital too. Who is going to ship their horse or cow to midtown Buffalo? Though, I guess it would be handy for the nearby zoo.

How many cows go to vet hospitals? (sounds like the start of a bad joke, but honest question.)

Someone fill me in about these concerns of animal transport... because the way I see it, if someone is going to bring a horse to a vet hospital they would put it in a horse-trailer and drive it to the vet. How would that be any different between a City vs. Rural vet hospital?

It's not like they're going to ride the horse down the middle of the street to the vet yelling hi-ho silver. Even if the hospital were in east bumblef*** they would still have to drive it out there. I would think a longer drive would be worse than an urban drive. No?

For that matter, how many whales and elephants are there in WNY that need regular medical care? At least, how many compared to dogs and cats and birds?

Not to sound crass, but I imagine that the economy of caring for an injured cow or horse generally involves sending them to the butcher or glue factory. Most pet owners, however, have a much larger emotional investment in their Calico or Dachshund than farmers have in their livestock.

Certainly, veterinary science will need to include some provisions for larger farm animals, but I would tend to assume that the majority of students will be paying back their student loans by tending to smaller house pets.

Wegmans has an entire aisle for cat litter, puppy chow and bird toys. I've never seen cattle feed or horse saddles. Well, there is an aisle for cows and chickens... but they're generally referred to as beef and poultry.

How many cows go to vet hospitals? Just the sick ones, idiot. How many cows and horses and goats and pigs and sheep can we expect to be housed on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, if a viable veterinary school is opened? How much barn space and pasture will there be? How many will Forest Lawn allow to graze on its grass, the only available pasture within reason?

A veterinary school is the most incredibly unlikely and idiotic proposal, and will NOT come to pass. If anything, this is a convenient "out" for Al-Kaleida to dump this place & avoid further responsibility.

when it comes to large animal veterinary work, it is probably cheaper and easier for the vet to go to the animal instead of the animal going to the vet.

People are morons. First off, Chason can't just "create" a new veterinary hospital because they think it's a good idea. That's like a local block club saying 'we're going to create a new NFL team because there's a need for one." Sorry, but it won't ever happen. Any half witted moron could see (or apparently, in this case they can't) that Chason is a developer that has a track record in one thing: student housing. That's all they've ever really done (save for some apartments) and the times they've tried to branch out have failed miserably (see: the proposed development for the corner of Elmwood and Forest that they've been working on for the past 5 years with absolutely no success.)

Here's how this will shake out: the project will be announced to a flurry of fanfare (read comments above) and excitement (again, comments above). Chason will qualify for a huge amount of historic preservation credits, and state money to make this project happen. The only problem is THEY DON'T HAVE THE BACKING OF ANY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. So they'll "restore the property" beginning with the dormitories and student housing and then at some point in the future it will become plain that they vet school isn't feasible and will fall through. Leaving Chason with title, deed, and money in hand to develop a HUGE student housing complex plum between the medical campus, Canisius, and Buff State. Chason is in over their heads, and they know it. They don't have the cash or access to the funds to properly "restore" this huge property, so for all you restoration buffs out there, get ready for a cheap reuse with some cheap architectural decoration (check out all their past projects) under the guise of restoration.

Naturally, because they are bootstrapped for cash, they'll use the remaining resources they gleaned from the state to redevelop the rest of the site into student housing, and what will we have? A huge student ghetto in one of the nicest areas of the city. We could have had the decent and dynamic Uniland development (which is tested and able, just take a look at the Avant), but instead we went with the underdog, and will wind up with shi... never mind. Good luck as all the half witted cheerleaders laud this project only to be disappointed when the first dorm opens in 15 years, and the second one opens in 20. Good choice Kaleida! Nice work.

Can we film a zombie movie here first staring Millard Fillmore and William McKinley? As zombies of course..

Breaking News: Sabres Selected for Webster Block

My blog comment cup runneth over . . .
This info and the stream of good news reports (Ashland Ave, Webster Block, etc.) is exhilarating.

just wanted to elaborate on the 'taking bessie to the vet' concern.

in an agricultural setting, the unit of health is not the individual animal, it is the herd. if one cow, goat, or sheep has an infection, you have to check them all and probably treat them all. that is why the vet goes to the animals and not the other way around.

vacant land is cheap on the east side. anyone studying google earth can probably spot any number of vacant lots within two miles of gates circle. barns and pastures are a better use, and would provide more employment opportunities, than weedy lots or vinyl victorians.

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This is a terrible, terrible idea. This decision was made based on multiple falsehoods, the main one being that there is a shortage of veterinarians. This just is not true. On the contrary, veterinary school graduates are having a very difficult time finding jobs because there are TOO MANY vets. They can't find jobs or have to take jobs that don't pay enough to cover their crippling student loan debt. The fact that 50% of pets don't regularly see a vet is because their owners are too irresponsible or too poor to take them, not because a veterinarian is not available. If people cannot pay for their own health care, do you think they can pay for their pets? And, unless Buffalo is looking to graduate millionaire veterinarians that can donate their time and services, this just won't work. I really hope they do not go through with this.